


The Revenge of a Dragon

by r4yil



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-16 05:08:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18684757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/r4yil/pseuds/r4yil
Summary: Learning of Ash's stabbing, Eiji returns to New York to make sure Ash makes a full recovery and they initially plan to both go back to Japan together. However, it soon becomes clear that Yut-Lung and the rest of his Chinese empire will not allow Ash and Eiji's escape so instead, they must fight their way through the massive Lee conglomerate and make it to Japan.





	1. Chapter I

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own any of the original characters presented here. Criticism would be greatly appreciated

1

 

Being a cesspool of upper-class crime, Ash had always avoided ‘La Recluse’- a faux French bar, owned by a twenty something year old Englishman, buried in the deepest depths of middle-class Manhattan serving nothing but alcohol and biscuits. But now, on the tail end of a 6-week painkiller course, he had somehow managed to muster the strength to drag himself to the den of Raymond Atwood: distinguished twenty something year-old. 

In his tow was Eiji Okumura who despite Ash’s incessant protest had insisted on returning to America on hearing the news of his stabbing – in fact, he got the very next flight back. Now, Ash would not have minded Eiji returning – he was a refreshing, and even loving voice when most of his company was nurses possessing all the conversational skills of a dressed cabbage – but in these circumstances, rather than calming Ash down, he felt Eiji could very easily prove to be an extra life to worry about.

Left, then right down Broadway and right again to Mercer Street

Here it was: unmarked and unassuming, a blue painted door and a short flight of stairs down below the street was all that stood between the pair and what some might call ‘class’. Ash talk a deep breath and remembered the last time he came here with Blanca. He shuddered at the thought.

The sweet melody of the best jazz band in New York was the only respite Ash could see in the low ceilinged, early 19th century bar. Stout wooden pillars along each wall painted to look like marble rose up and melted into the ceiling in elaborate capitals. Incandescent lamps washed the whole room with a warm, oaky glow and the thick wooden rafters supporting the roof exuded their age through their many fault lines. Ash stooped through the narrow-arched doorway into the sprawling room – perhaps it wasn’t so bad after all?

And then he realized that all the ambient chatter of the many patrons had a quality only possessed by conversations of exploitative capitalism and drug deals. He sighed in disappointment.

Eiji, on the other hand, was somewhat impressed by the elaborate yet minimal architecture of the place and judging by the look on Eiji’s face, Ash knew it would be difficult getting him to leave. It reminded him a fair bit of the first time they had met, in that somewhat dingier establishment – where Eiji had shown no inhibitions asking the most feared gangster in New York if he could hold his gun. Ash laughed a little. “What?” Eiji had been distracted but now turned to Ash

“I was just remembering the first time we met…this place reminds me a bit”

“I guess” Eiji also let out a chuckle “hopefully we won’t be needing that gun of yours here, though”

Ash nodded in somber agreement – he knew they probably would. Nevertheless, Ash motioned towards a table at the bar and they sat down next to each other on the antique leather bar stools. It had been a while since they’d been able to sit down and talk together, what with all the violence and murder of the preceding months but now Ash finally felt at least somewhat comfortable. It was, he begrudgingly admitted, a pleasant and warm setting for a relaxed conversation.

A haughty British accent broke their local silence. 

“What will you two be having tonight”

Ash had recognized the voice and spun round to face the bartender, Raymond Atwood, cloth on shoulder and arms outstretched in the most cliché way possible. That’s him, alright he thought to himself.

“I’ll have…a Rum Coke, and Eiji?” he had said it out of habit, but it just dawned on him that Eiji may have never before touched alcohol intentionally.

“Err…I’ll have water?” he was evidently unnerved.

“Sparkling, still, tap…mineral? Water is a more nuanced subject than you might think!” Ray replied endearingly.

Jesus Christ Ash thought. He hasn’t changed a bit.

Eiji chuckled inwardly, “still, thank you”

Ash deflated in a sigh of relief – for some reason he felt that that could have gone very wrong.

“Oh, I’ll be needing your ID, of course” Ray said oozing sarcasm as he winked at Ash, a smirk plastered across his face.

Ash pretended to smile and turned back to Eiji with his drink, “So…I’m sorry to drag you down here with no explanation but, in short, I don’t think your return has been welcomed by Yut Lung” he was careful not to say too much in a place like this and leaned in closer to Eiji, “We need to be on guard for the next couple of days, at least”.

Smash

Ash and Eiji spun round to the sounds of breaking glass and saw one man brandishing half a wine bottle at a Chinese looking man whom Ash presumed was a gangster. Gang violence? Here of all places? Just shows how volatile things are get- Ash’s train of thought was abruptly cut off by the distinct crack of pistol from behind him.

All of a sudden, he felt his collar yanked down and just caught a glimpse of Eiji pulling him below the bar; Had he really been that slow? It was happening already – the violence! but this soon? It didn’t seem right.

A second shot. 

Thump

Whoever the shooter was wasn’t a great aim: they’d hit the rafter. Nonetheless he saw the two gangsters scuttle out the door, terrified by the two missed shots? Then Ash noticed the outstretched arm above him holding a pistol – it was Ray, stilling aiming at the thick oak rafter above one of the tables.

Ash rose from in front the bar, a brief smile running across his face: “I guess you haven’t lost your knack, eh?” he remembered Ray doing the same thing only three years before to diffuse a fight.

“I’m sorry” Ray veiled his confusion with a shallow laugh, “Do I know you?”

 

2

 

Among awkward conversations, this one had to top Ash’s list. He had come here expecting the cynical, sarcastic and generally withdrawn Raymond Atwood he had known 3 years before. Instead, he was greeted by a cheery and talkative Raymond Atwood who, while still hard wired for sarcasm, was surprisingly enjoyable to talk to. And if anyone knew how to make conversation, it was Eiji. To Ash it felt like hours sitting there offering brief interjections every 5 minutes.

They had got onto the subject of Ash’s recent unfortunate demise, which he hated talking about with a passion.

“So, let me get this straight, you, Ash Lynx, while bleeding from 7 different arteries, decided the best course of action would be to go to a library...?” Ray laughed in-between syllables, “I would expect nothing less from you!”

“I must be a compelling writer, in any case!” Eiji and Ray burst into hysterical half drunken laughter.

“There’s more to it than just the words, you know” Ash tried to slouch in a stool and failing that, glared at Eiji who suddenly stopped laughing; a sullen expression washed over his face, “Sorry…I know you don’t like to talk about it”

Ash switched his deadly stare to his drink, “No…don’t worry…it’s just that…” Ash trailed off into the tepid liquid and felt Eiji’s hand on his knee. He let out a sigh, relieved Eiji could be so considerate.

“So!” Eiji livened up as quickly as he had deflated “You’ve heard enough about us! How do you two know each other?”

“Well, I suppose it’s through a mutual connection: I presume you know Blanca?” Ray didn’t want an answer, “Blanca brought him here to meet a contact and things ended up…more violently than was expected and we ended up shooting at each other – in fact, it was probably the first time Ash killed someone!”

The look on Ash and Eiji’s face went from curiosity to violent indignation faster than a British person to a tea plantation.

Ash looked from face to face. Ray had picked up on the mistake almost instantly and stood there umm-ing and err-ing apologetically while Eiji sat combing the deepest caverns of his brain for a conversation changer. 

Eventually he found one.

“Ash, you never explained to me why we came here?”

Ash took a long gulp of watery Rum and Coke. “We need something from our friend here because as far as I can see, the Chinese won’t be letting us leave anytime soon” Ash wasn’t really sure what was going on himself, but he tried to sound like he had command of the situation: “But in short, we need your help eliminating Yut Lung and his minions, or at least subduing him”

“And might I ask why on Earth that is necessary?” Ray never had been a fan of unnecessary violence.

“He despises the two of us with all emotion imaginable”, Eiji put it rather bluntly.  
“I see…and why do you ask me specifically?”

“You’re only last person besides my own gang who I can trust not to happily stab me in the abdomen for a few thousand dollars” Ash seemed to have also abandoned all subtlety.

“Yes, I never was a fan of knives, anyway”

 

3

 

After deliberating long into the night Ash was exhausted: he had woken up at the crack of dawn, wanting to be out of that damned hospital bed as soon as possible, but this only left him tired for the rest of the day. Despite this, Ray and Eiji somehow managed to keep talking and he was vaguely aware of them formulating some kind of plan to subdue the Chinese long enough, so they could escape. So, this is how his innocence leaves him? 

“I should get some sleep” Ash murmured.

“I agree – you two can use one of the empty rooms upstairs”, Ray paused, “The beds aren’t made but it’ll do for one night”.

“Thanks a lot, we really appreciate it, don’t we, Ash?” Eiji joked.

“Of course we do” Ash said, ready to collapse.

As they went upstairs, Ash did, in fact, collapse and Eiji had to half drag, half hoist him to the room where he fished out the key Ray had given him and went in.

It was a humble affair with a short corridor leading onto 2 beds, a bathroom to the right and a barred window overlooking the street which let in a thin trickle of  
moonlight. 

Eiji dumped Ash on one of the beds and went to find some blankets from the cupboard opposite. As he did this he heard Ash stir behind him; he was trying to get up but was simply too tired.

“It must be those painkillers, making me drowsy”, Ash’s voice was almost a whisper by this point.

“I think you’re a bit more than drowsy!” Eiji smiled at Ash, “Anyway, I thought you didn’t need them anymore?”

“It’s just for another week, after that the doctor said the pain…” he fell asleep mid-sentence, at last overcome by the busy day.

Eiji planted a soft kiss on his forehead and pulled up the blanket to his chin: “Goodnight”, he whispered.

As Eiji lay down, he looked out the small window and at the silvery disc beyond it…if only all their nights together would be this uneventful…


	2. Chapter II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As it becomes clearer that Ash and Eiji can't stay in New York for much longer, they decide to spend their final days there relaxing a little more than usual. However, even this could prove to be a strain on Ash's hyperaware mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of the original character presented here. Criticism would be greatly appreciated

1

 

Perhaps it was all the pills he had been taking but for the first time in months, Ash got a full eight hours of sleep. Despite the future being far from certain, he lay undisturbed and dreamless for most of the night; When he rose at nine o’clock he was at first anxious – anxious if he had missed something, anxious if someone needed his help and had tried to call him. This nervousness came naturally with Ash’s lifestyle of being in constant danger and having to always be on his guard. He had learned to deal with it by waking up unusually early: it calmed him down and made sure he knew he wasn’t going to be caught off balance. But now, oddly enough, as he sat up and brushed off his morning grogginess, he felt surprisingly more at ease than usual and even now with so much to worry about, he had a clear mind.

He had forgotten how good it felt to rest and now he thought he could do it all day, but alas, Eiji wasn’t still asleep and Ash assumed he had gone downstairs and was waiting for him to have breakfast. Then, as he was about to leave, fumbling with the door handle, he noticed the room key next to a handwritten note on the dresser:

‘Please don’t forget!!!’

He smiled, imagining what Eiji would say if he didn’t bring them down. He even considered leaving them there on purpose just to see what would happen. Then he realised this was what friends did: at long last, they were just friends with no mafia boss ready to tear them apart of hired gun preparing to storm their house. Even if it was just for a few days, it was true nonetheless and Ash knew he had to make the most of it.

He went downstairs expecting a meagre breakfast of coffee and chocolate biscuits but by the time he reached the door to the bar, he could smell a whole range of food – croissant, buttery and smooth, rich, earthy coffee; he could even smell bacon with its distinct oily scent flooding through the corridor. When he came through the door he immediately saw Eiji sitting at one of the many tables, reading through the morning newspaper. He looked up from a story about gangs in New York, “Good morning, sleepyhead,” he smirked at Ash.

“You had a shower? – your hair’s wet,” Ash seemed surprised, “I can’t believe I slept through that!”

Eiji laughed a little “You were very asleep – I even tried to wake you up an hour ago, but you just kept snoring.”

“Huh,” Ash snorted, “I wonder why I’m so relaxed today,” and winked at Eiji.

“Am I really that relaxing?” He took off his glasses and put down the paper, “I always found you the relaxing one”. This was true: whenever they were close Eiji felt his troubles dissipate: he was always able to stay in the present, with Ash.

“Perhaps we complement each other,” Ash was half joking when Eiji replied:

“I guess we do.”

Eiji had picked the paper back up when Ash shuffled his chair around and leant in a little to see what he was reading about, “Young leader of major New York gang still hospitalized, eh?” Ash grinned, “not if I have anything to say about it!”

A smile crossed Eiji’s face when suddenly it disappeared, and his eyes went wide. Ash shot up and reached for his gun when Eiji grabbed his arm, “Calm down” he implored, “I just forgot to ask you, did you get the keys?”

Ash sighed disapprovingly, “Don’t scare me like that, but yes, I did.”

“Well, in that case, should I get Ray and we can figure out our next move?” Eiji seemed unusually excited by the prospect of more violence – But Ash suspected he wasn’t, he just didn’t realise how hard the coming weeks would be.

“Nah, I’d like to relax for today – why don’t we go somewhere? I mean, you’ve never actually seen New York!” Ash thought out loud: “At least not without me killing people in it.”

“You know that isn’t tr-” Eiji was cut off

“Don’t start this again,” Ash was, admittedly, grateful that Eiji saw another side in him but sometimes it got exhausting, “Anyway, why don’t we go somewhere nice and we can come back here for dinner?’

“Where do you have in mind?” Eiji’s face lit up at the suggestion.

“Well, considering all the disposable income I have spare, why don’t we try and dispose of some of it?” Ash raised his eyebrows in Eiji’s direction.

“Are you saying we should go shopping?!” He had almost turned into a child by this point, with his hands loosely clasped in front of him.

“I suppose, where do yo-” before Ash could finish Eiji lunged at him arms apart and caught Ash in a tight embrace, “You know I love shopping!” he exclaimed, drawing back and staring at Ash’s confused face.

“I didn’t know someone could get so excited over shopping!” he said, tentatively trying to pry Eiji off of him, “let’s at least get something to eat first.”

 

2

 

They finished breakfast quickly but just as they were about to leave Ray hurried through the tables calling for them, “Ash, Eiji – where are you off to?”

“Why?” Ash replied in a snarky tone.

“Sorry, he just woke up; we’re going out to buy some things – would you like us to get you anything?” Eiji answered Ray’s question a little more agreeably. Ash did his fake pout and crossed his arms.

“Don’t be silly, I don’t need anything, I just need to know what time you think you’ll be back, in case anything happens,” Ray sounded like he thought something would happen.

“We should be back around-” Eiji looked to Ash for an answer, “5 ish?”

“Sounds good!” Ray bid them farewell and returned to behind the bar.

As they went up the narrow stairway to street level, Ash noticed Eiji had become wary, even anxious, “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know…do you really think it’s a good idea to be walking around in broad daylight?” Eiji was definitely nervous “I mean…won’t the Chinese be looking for us?”

“Well, I’m not staying in this hellhole all day! That’s for sure!” Ash declared, “Besides, I doubt they’d want to get into conflict with Ray anyway – he’s got more backing him than you might think.”

“If you say so…” This hadn’t calmed Eiji down by much.

Ash sighed long and hard and as they emerged onto the street, he wrapped his arm around Eiji, squeezing him a little as they walked. “Sorry if I sounded sarcastic,” Eiji said, a few minutes later, “I mean, I trust you, I really do, but you can see why I’m worried, for both of us.”

“I get it, but we just need to relax, even if it's just for a day!” Ash finished triumphantly and stuck his hand into Eiji’s hair, ruffling it about. Eiji recoiled and grinned big and sheepish, “You need to stop worrying” Ash put on a fake doctor’s voice: “or all this lovely hair will turn grey!”

Neither of them knew how long they spent milling around New York’s best shopping areas, going in and out of shops and almost always coming out laden with more luxuries, “Where on Earth are we going to put all of this?” Ash thought aloud as they left a clothes shop.

“Can’t we just leave it all at the apartment?” Eiji asked.

“Hmmm – Yung will be watching that, and we’ll be isolated…” the precarious situation at hand suddenly became aware to both of them, “I guess we’ll head back to Ray’s place – it’s the live jazz night as well, so it should be nice and relaxing.”

“That would be nice…just you and me…” Eiji mused, leaning into Ash’s shoulder.

Ash paused to look at his watch and saw it was approaching 5 o’clock, “We should get back – wouldn’t want Ray worrying about us.”

 

 

3

 

Ray was waiting for them at the door and as they entered, wagged his finger, “5 minutes late, tut tut,” he chided them sarcastically, “but on a more serious note, were you followed?”

“I’m not sure, I wasn’t really checking,” Ash said, scratching the back of his neck.

“Hmmm…leave all your things in the car out back in case you were, and we have to leave in a hurry.” Ray scratched his chin, “It’s not like you to be off your guard, eh, Ash?”

Ash smiled guiltily and looked at Eiji, “we had other things to worry about, didn’t we?” and then at the several bags of shopping.

“Urghh, whatever – I’ll show you to the car park” Ray sighed, defeated.

He led them down a poorly lit corridor leading off from the bar which ended in a dull concrete room occupied by only a small tool shelf and Ray’s car. He buzzed open the boot and motioned for them to put their things in the less than spacious luggage cavity. It was a burly sports car, so space was limited, and it took several minutes of cramming and rearranging to get it all to fit when Ash finally asked, “Is this really necessary?” closing the boot as he said it.

“Well, I’m sure you wouldn’t want to lose all this lovely shopping in a Chinese house raid; there’s a very high chance you were followed back here and as far as I can tell, that Chinese man-girl is more than eager to string up both of you on meat hooks!” Ray replied.

“Still, it seems a bit excessive to be getting ready to leave already” Ash looked around and flopped his arms, “I guess we never can be too careful.”

Ray raised an eyebrow, “So you do want to stay here?”

“It’s more that leaving here would probably mean leaving New York for a very long time…I didn’t think I’d have to leave her so soon, I mean, after this, who knows when I’ll be able to come back,” A sad smile crossed Ash’s face, “It’s been a good few years, at least.”

When Ray was finished topping up the gas tank they all head back to the bar where Ash and Eiji sat down, “When do you start serving dinner?” Eiji asked.

“Around 6, normally, but tonight I have to wait for that band to show up, so it might be a bit later, so why don’t we finalise our plan for getting you two out of here, shall we?” Ray too seemed excited.

“Why not?” Ash took out a notebook and a pen from his pocket, so he could pretend to be listening.

“Okay, we’ve only got half an hour to sort this out, so I’ll make it fairly quick,” Ray was tense, Ash could tell. We’ve only got half an hour? This didn’t make sense to Ash, it’s almost like he knows somethings going to happen…

They did indeed spend the next half an hour discussing the ins and outs of their great escape plan, so much so in fact, that Ash even began to take an interest. He didn’t really pay attention and preferred to make it up as he went along but he got the basic idea: Tomorrow at dawn they would drive out to some New York farmhouse and meet Ray’s ‘contact’ who would then get them to Los Angeles and then on either a plane or a boat to Japan.

“Sounds great and all, but I’ll need to say goodbye to the gang tomorrow morning – I’m sure we can make time for that? It’ll only take an hour or so,” Ash had always been very fond of his gang and couldn’t leave without bidding them all a final farewell.

“Very well, if you get the chance,” Ray didn’t sound hopeful; Again, he really isn’t optimistic, is he? Ray’s mood wasn’t exactly encouraging Ash but before he could think it through Eiji grabbed him by the arm and dragged him over to one of the alcove tables, hidden away in a neat, ornate wooden cubicle.

Eiji drew the curtain just as the jazz band fired up into a soothing piano melody which washed over the entire space. Sporadic applause followed.

He could tell instantly, and Ash knew it; it was one of Eiji’s many sixth senses: he knew when the people around him were nervous about something and sure enough, “So what’s bothering you now? This plan can’t really go that wrong, can it?”

Ash smiled a contemplative smile and leaned his head into one hand, “Ray just seemed…off…like he doesn’t think we’ll even make it to tomorrow, let alone L.A…he’s just nervous, it’s nothing to worry about.”

“Huh, I noticed that too – something seemed off,” Eiji lent over the table a little and took Ash’s hand from underneath his chin, brushing his fingertips with his thumb, “We’ll be fine – I think _you’re_ the one who needs to stop worrying.”

They ate dinner in relative silence, overshadowed by Ash’s obvious fear but by the end of a rich, warming meal he certainly felt a lot better and as dinner progressed, he became more and more talkative. This made sense considering all they’d had for lunch was tea and biscuits: Ash was always especially grumpy when he’d just woken up or when he was hungry.

“That was delicious! Don’t you think?” Eiji had tried repeatedly to lighten the mood and had yet to succeed.

“Oh, please just shut up! I’m trying to think here!” This sudden exclamation sent Eiji flying as much as one could in such an enclosed space. In fact, it was more of a violent shuffle in one direction. A few seconds passed, “sorry,” Ash mumbled as he flopped onto the table, resting his hand on his hands.

“It’s fine…I get why you’re so nervous, but you did say we should relax for a bit, didn’t you?” Eiji had regained composure and now sat by Ash, trying to console him.

 _How can someone be this kind? And if they can, I certainly don’t deserve them!_ Ash thought this as Eiji ran his hand across and back and squeezed their two bodies closer together until Ash could feel Eiji’s warmth coursing through his cold blood.

“We should get some sleep before tomorrow,” As declared, suddenly shaking off Eiji, leaving him a little shocked.

Ash stood up and drew back the curtain to the cubicle and began to walk towards the door to the upstairs with Eiji not far behind when, all of a sudden, the main entrance smashed open followed by several shouts and Ray screaming:

“Ash, GET DOWN!”

 

 

 

 


	3. Chapter III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following an uneventful day out, Ash and Eiji returned to what they thought would be a relaxing dinner before they finally left New York for good. Oh how wrong they were...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of the original characters presented here - Criticism would be greatly appreciated.

1

A familiar sound echoed through Ash’s brain. It rang clear and as recognisable as speech. He hadn’t heard it in a while but even now it pierced through his head, shrieking as it did.

A second crack.

Another scream.

He realised he’d stopped in his tracks; until he heard the most deafening sound ever to be loosed on his ears coming from behind him.

An explosion?

He spun around and saw Ray brandishing a comically large Magnum revolver, still smoking at the end.

“Ash! Get down, you plonker!”

Ash abided and ran to behind the nearest table, crouched down and whipped out his own pistol.

The room had gone quiet and a single body lay at the entrance, wearing a bulletproof vest.

Ray smirked, “Is that all?” he shouted at the door.

As if on cue the door exploded in a flurry of splinters and gunshots just as bottles of spirits began exploding above Ray’s head. Three armed men, assault rifles and all, burst through the shattered doorway and began shooting at where they’d seen Ray and Ash. A bullet erupted through the wood of the table and barely missed Ash’s arm.

He twisted his head left. Then right. What he found was less than ideal.

He’d forgotten about Eiji entirely but now he saw him crouching behind the table they had been eating at. he then saw one of the intruders, inching his way closer and closer to the alcove where Eiji hid.

What Ash did next would seem rash, maybe insane to any normal person, but in this situation, it was really his best option – both get shot or just one of them get shot.

He sprang up from behind the table, loosing two rounds on Eiji’s assailant and then sprinted across the floor space between them. Eiji looked around, wide-eyed and screaming, “Ash! Bad Ide-”

Eiji’s blood ran cold as ice and all life drained from his face. His jaw dropped and at the same time his mouth let out a deafening cry, “ASH!”

He’d seen Ash get shot before, but not like this: he’d never seen him tumble so spectacularly. He slumped over and fell forward over his feet. A red stain spread across the bottom of his jeans and the pistol he’d been holding tumbled to the ground.

Reacting almost instantly, Ray leapt up from the Bar and let out two thunderous shots from his revolver. This gave them some time, but not much.

“Eiji, I’ll get Ash – you get in the car!” This was serious – too serious.

Eiji instantly ran past Ray and flung open the door and Ray lugged Ash’s lifeless body through the doorway, half running, half limping.

As they reached the car, Eiji swung open the rear door and Ray, with as much care as could be afforded given the situation, tossed Ash into the back.

He jammed the key into the ignition. The car let out a vengeful roar, “I’ll be back,” Ray muttered, as he slammed the accelerator and wheel spun his way out the half-opened garage door.

 

2

Eiji’s heart pounded; he looked around at Ash for the fourth time in a minute as the car ripped through red lights and threaded in-between passing cars at breakneck speed. “Where are all the police?” Eiji finally spoke, exhausted and still terrified.

“They’ll all be occupied dealing with our visitors from earlier – we’ll be fine till we reach Long Island then we’ll have to slow down,” Ray answered, equally shaken by the whole ordeal.

“Slow down!?” Eiji exclaimed, “Ash is dying!”

“Look!” Ray was beginning to get irritated by Eiji’s paranoia, “I get why you’re so fucking worried, but he’s only been shot in the legs and it hasn’t hit anything important - he isn’t fucking dying! so please just shut up! Ok?!”

Eiji slumped back in the seat and stared out the windscreen. The streetlights above shot past, forming long, yellow streaks against the night sky.  They drove in silence till Ray began to slow the car down on the approach to the Brooklyn Bridge.

“Here we go…and still no cops…” An edge of wariness had crept into his voice.

The bridge was relatively quiet at night and they got across without any trouble and when they finally pulled out of the middle-class suburbs of New York, some 2 hours later, Ash began to stir.

“Can we pull over?” Eiji asked, “You need to rest too, you know.”

Ray sighed, “I guess we should see if Ash needs a doctor, urgently, that is.”

They swung into the entrance of a farm and Ray switched off the car. It was silent except for the occasional sound of nocturnal animals. They sat in silence for what felt like hours but was more like 2 minutes until Ash, of all people, cut in, “Where the hell are we?”

“You sound like shit,” Ray replied, sounding equally unhealthy.

“Yeah thanks, I’ve just been shot,” Ash retorted sarcastically, “And where is my shirt?”

Ray looked back, “Unfortunately it was not for our viewing pleasure,” and down at Ash’s leg, which was crudely wrapped in the once white piece of cloth that was his shirt.

“I see,” Ash fell back into the seat and put one hand to his head, “And you, Eiji, are you ok?”

“I guess…” He frowned and took Ash’s free hand, squeezing it a little as he did, “We’ll get you fixed up.”

“You don’t sound too sure,” Ash smiled weakly at Eiji “I’m sure I’ll be fine anyway – I’ve had worse.”

“Well, in any case, I know I guy in Orient who can patch you up a little,” Ray had started up the car again.

“Orient?” Ash frowned, “Are we in Japan already?”

Eiji managed a laugh, “It’s a town at the top of Long Island, we’ll get a ferry across to the mainland tomorrow.”

It took them another hour to reach Orient, winding through quiet backroads ‘just in case’ as Ray had put it, but realistically the Chinese would expect them to go West, and even then, it would take them at least a few weeks to figure out their exact location.

When they finally reached the town, Ray didn’t stop, “This guy I know, he lives a bit further up – it’s only 5 minutes though.”

“How do you know someone all the way out here, anyway?” Eiji hushed his voice a little as Ash had gone back to what seemed like sleep.

“We were good friends a while back, before, well,” Ray went even quieter, “It was Ash who forced him up here, after he got the downtown gangs together, my friend here simply couldn’t keep up and had to move – now he lives off a dirty pension and farms god knows what for a living.”

“He was a gang leader?” Eiji asked, less concerned than he should’ve been.

“Well, more of a supplier – he sold guns to Ash’s rivals and eventually Ash found out – didn’t go too well for his enterprise.” Ray looked back to make sure Ash wasn’t listening.

“Huh…anything else I should know?” Eiji, too, checked on Ash.

“Ash isn’t Ash – he’s a family friend, no…I don’t know…I’ll think of something…let’s just hope they don’t recognise each other.”

 

 

3

Ray pounded at the door a few more times. It was 2 o’clock at night but he still persisted. For a few more minutes he tried to arouse his ‘old friend’, whom he only referred to as Max until at last, a groggy face poked its head through the security-chained door.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” His displeasure at being awoken was evident.

“C’est moi!” Ray flung out his arms to show he was unarmed, “An old friend?”

“Holy shit it can’t be?” Max fumbled with the chain and eventually got it open, “Well, come in I guess…and who else do I have the pleasure of meeting?”

Eiji hovered into view, nearly collapsing under the weight of Ash strung over his shoulder. He managed a depressed “Hi.”

“Max, this is Eiji, Eiji, Max…the charming corpse he bears is Charlie – he’s fine but just needs a bit of patching up – I’m sure it’s nothing you can’t handle!”

They shuffled inside and made their way to the living room, where a sofa waited to receive Ash. Eiji tried as hard as one could to lay him down carefully, but it could have gone better, to say the least. Eiji sat down next to his head and started to stroke back the hair around his ears, idly twisting it in his fingers till Max come out with 3 cups of what seemed to be tea.

“So, what’s the damage, then?” Max squinted at Ash’s wound.

“Well, judging by him not being dead I figured it couldn’t have hit anything important but I did think it’d be best to get an at least semi-professional opinion on it before we kept going.” Ray leant back and took a sip of the tea, “Bloody hell that’s hot!”

“I just made it, idiot,” Max looked back at Ray, “Soon you’ll be needing medical attention too?”

It only took him a few minutes but it was done with such care, Eiji almost couldn’t believe it: Max had cut off the blood-soaked shirt and jeans to reveal quite a grotesque bullet wound, and following his cleaning of it, the surrounding grey, dying skin.

“At least it’s stopped bleeding,” Ray looked up to notice Eiji’s visible repulsion, “Oh, it’s not that bad – you’re probably going to see a lot worse, anyway!”

Ash finally woke up to the dull tingling of Max snipping off bits of dead skin. “Jesus Christ, where the hell am I now?” AS he said this he tried to sit up, wrenching his leg from Max’s scissors. “Shit!” He swore in pain.

“Not sure what you were expecting,” Max sighed and got back to work in a new position.

It took Max another half an hour or so to finish up, cleaning out the wound on both sides, making sure it hadn’t hit a bone – he even stitched up the bits he could. Finishing it off with a bandage, he presented his opinion to Ray: “It’ll heal fairly quickly, but even then, he won’t be walking for at least another week, if not more…and when I say walking I mean walking: nothing too exciting.”

“You hear that, little brother? You’re stuck here with me for at least a week!” Eiji laughed as he helped Ash stand up on one leg.

“I couldn’t think of anything more relaxing…” Ash could’ve been serious but he fell asleep too soon to clarify.

“There’s a spare room down here, if you two don’t mind sleeping in the same bed, that is?” Max offered.

“They won’t!” Ray raised one finger and chuckled, and then fell face first into the sofa, falling asleep almost instantly.

“Well, sleep well…and if you have any problems, don’t worry about waking me up – as you can see, I don’t mind that much,” and with that, Max too went upstairs to catch some sleep before the inevitably busy day ahead of them.

Eiji hauled Ash into the spare bedroom: it was a meagre provision of a mattress and a blanket, but it was better than the back seat of a car. He sat Ash down and twisted him round into a vaguely sleep-like position.

“Goodnight,” he whispered in Ash’s ear, planting a kiss on his forehead as he said it.

He clambered into bed, fully clothed, wondering what the next few weeks would bring until he heard a faint reply:

“Goodnight.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's chapter 3 of my abomination - tell me what you think of the pacing as I'm not too sure if it's too fast or not.
> 
> Also Max has nothing to do with Max Lobo: bad choice of names on my behalf


End file.
